John Bell and John Gaden. Photo: Prudence Upton
25 August 1944. Only a handful of people knew it, but Paris was about to be razed, its nearly 2 million inhabitants annihilated. Hitler was out for yet more vengeance; if he couldn’t have Paris – and the Allied troops were at its gates about to liberate the city and accelerate the end of World War II – then no one would. Dawn broke on the fateful day, and Hitler’s loyal General Dietrich von Choltitz stood ready to ring through the precise and deadly detonation orders that would “leave no religious or historical monument standing”. Von Choltitz was not a man to disobey orders. So what happened?
In Cyril Gély’s tightly written play Diplomacy, Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling brought his considerable powers of persuasion to bear, and it’s hardly a spoiler to say that he saved the day.
Thespian heavyweights John Bell and John Gaden, as Von Choltitz and Nordling respectively, are back at the Ensemble for a return season of this polished jewel of a production. It takes place over a few hours in the Hotel Meurice, where Von Choltitz and his ever-reducing staff are headquartered. Michael Scott Mitchell’s clever grey and white set maps Paris, the backdrop and the floor show us the streets and the monuments that are about to be bombed into dust. The recent partial destruction of Notre Dâme would be nothing compared to this.
Gaden’s Nordling, Consul General of Sweden, is every bit as acute, suave and intelligent as one would hope he was in real life. (In reality, Nordling was one of perhaps a dozen people who laboured over two weeks to dissuade von Choltitz from destroying Paris, but here he is the embodiment of the saviour of the hour.)
Bell’s uncompromising Von Choltitz is the career soldier who is not about to cave, especially as his family is held hostage to his mission. Hitler has them holed up as collateral.
Diplomacy is 65 minutes of argument and counter-argument, brinkmanship and appeals to humanity, fascinating to see and hear and it will keep you on the edge of your seat, even though you know the eventual outcome (although perhaps not everything).
Bell’s Von Choltitz has support from Genevieve Lemon as his doggedly faithful subordinate Frau Meyer, James Lugton as his orderly and Joseph Raggatt as Hans Brensdorf, as the engineering officer in charge of mining Paris (who didn’t anticipate that a degree in architecture would be put to this purpose). However, Diplomacy is basically a two-hander for Bell and Gaden, two actors at the top of their game, who know exactly what they are doing and who are a delight to watch.
Bell directs, and wife Anna Volska is assistant director (“I need someone out front to give me direction when I’m on stage,” said Bell, in an interview he gave last year.) Gély, whose play is translated and adapted by Julie Rose for the Ensemble, says he was inspired to write it when the “madness of men” resulted in the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9 September 2001.
Unfortunately, mad despots are still with us, and not easily beaten, but this gem of a play reminds us that that humanity can win.
Until 13 July. Highly recommended.
